The three North American teams, Evil Geniuses, OpTic Gaming, and CompLexity Gaming all tried their luck in the single-elimination Wild Cards earlier today, but in the end, it was the lone European team, OG, who stood tall and took the final spot in the Dota Summit 8 LAN playoffs.

This is the second Minor in a row that the home teams have failed to advance to the playoffs or secure a Top 4 spot; LFY, LGD Gaming, and EHOME, all fell short of a spot in the playoffs at the MDL Macau Minor last week. This just goes to show that home-court advantage isn’t always a huge factor.

OG Pull Through When It Counts

After trading blow for blow #coLDota was able to take down @OpTicGaming 2-1 in the Wild Card Semi-Finals of the #DOTASummit8 ! GG's friends! We play the winner of Evil Geniuses and OG later today!

Yesterday, it looked like OG would have a less than merry Christmas after their bitter rivals, Virtus Pro, gave them a good 3-0 drubbing to top Group A at their expense. However, the MDL Macau Minor champions pulled through in the end, taking down Evil Geniuses (2-0) and CompLexity Gaming (2-1) to secure their spot in the Summit 8 Playoffs and get a chance to avenge their earlier loss against the CIS giants.

OpTic Gaming opened the day on a good note with a quick 30-minute win against CompLexity Gaming. Unfortunately, as has been their biggest weakness all season long, the #greenwall crumbled late in the game and they ended up dropping the series 2-1. Meanwhile, OG channeled their inner VP against Evil Geniuses as they took both Games 1 and 2 in under 30 minutes each.

Up against CompLexity Gaming in the Dota Summit 8 Wild Card Finals,Tal‘Fly‘ Aizik went with a 4-protect-1 draft in Game 1, giving Roman ‘Resolut1on‘ Fominok his vaunted Anti-Mage. Though his strategy looked like it would fail early on, Resolut1on soon outfarmed everyone else in the game and led OG to the win. His Anti-Mage ended the game with 14 kills and 0 deaths, as well as a 975 GPM stat line in 32 minutes.

CompLexity Gaming then tied the series at 1-1 piece in Game 2 behind their aggressive, push-heavy lineup. The North Americans tried to do the same in Game 3, but with Resolut1on playing out of his mind on Storm Spirit and Jesse ‘JerAx‘ Vainikka proving that he remains one of the best Earth Spirit players in the world, OG’s victory was already clear just 15 minutes into the game. OG then forced out the gg from CompLexity Gaming not long after.

The Dota Summit 8 LAN Playoffs

With the win, OG will now join Virtus Pro, Fnatic and Team Kinguinin the Dota Summit 8 LAN Playoffs tomorrow. They’re set to take on Fnatic at 12:00 PST in the second series of the day while Team Kinguin will open the day against the back-to-back champions Virtus Pro at 09:00 PST.

Who’s your pick to go all the way at the Dota Summit 8 LAN Playoffs tomorrow? Do you think Virtus Pro can go for a three-peat? Be sure to let us know your thoughts in the comments down below.

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